March Madness

Miami's Shane Larkin to enter NBA Draft after sophomore season

April 26, 2013 11:36 AM ET

Shane Larkin has better prospects and chances this summer, in a weaker draft. (USATSI)

Miami point guard Shane Larkin will, barring a last-minute change of plans, make himself available for June's NBA Draft, a source confirmed to CBSSports.com early Friday. ESPN.com's Andy Katz first reported the development via confirmation from Larkin's father, Barry Larkin, the Hall of Fame baseball player and ESPN analyst.

A formal announcement is expected Sunday.

Larkin was the CBSSports.com ACC Player of the Year this season after averaging 14.5 points and 4.6 assists while leading the Hurricanes to the ACC regular-season title and ACC tournament title. The 5-foot-11 sophomore made headlines in March when he said "I don't see any reason to take that next step [and turn pro]." But his intentions apparently changed over the past few weeks and moved further this direction, a source said, once Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart announced he would not enter the NBA Draft. That development took a point guard off the board who would've been selected ahead of Larkin. In other words, no Smart enhanced Larkin's chances of going in the first round. Now he'll try to capitalize and turn pro while his stock is at its absolute highest.

Gary Parrish is a senior college basketball columnist for CBSSports.com and college basketball insider for the CBS Sports Network. The Mississippi native also hosts an award-winning radio show in Memphis. He lives in that area with his wife, two sons and two dogs.